Whether in a season or across a career, baseball features a lot of leveling out. Players, and even teams, can be hot for stretches that command attention, but eventually this game of failure catches up with them.

It takes special talent, then, to sustain attention-grabbing success across a span of time like Joey Votto has. He debuted just a couple of months after the first iPhone was introduced, and he has not only been video-game-level good since, but he has also reached the point in his career when he's exerting influence over the rest of the league. As such, Votto's plate approach has become the exemplar for others to follow.

While batters adapt to the changing ways that bullpens are built and deployed, Votto's consistency is a model. Since his September 2007 call-up, he has a lifetime .312 average and an on-base percentage well north of .400. Staying this good for so long means staying ahead of the curve as much as possible.

"More than anything I try to adapt quickly or beat it to the punch," Votto told Sporting News. "The data helps. During the season and during the offseason, I try to keep track of trends. I have my own perspective on things, but often times it can be a little skewed. I think data helps back up whatever I think I'm seeing."

When Votto arrived in the majors, he described himself as more of an "all-in hacker," a trait more forgivable in a young player. It's easier to adjust physically, but that doesn't last long. Around the time that he won the MVP, in 2009, Votto said he noticed he was being pitched differently.

"Because of that, I felt like I needed to be a little bit more particular about what pitches I swung at," he said.

His trademark patient approach is one that's now emulated by many around the league, but it took him years to fully develop. Votto said that in 2011 and 2012 he started to become more discerning at the plate, and even more so by 2015. Some of this was because, as he described it, he had "lost some things" physically - a quadriceps injury took most of this 2014 season - so being even more selective was a natural step in his approach. His walk rate has always been high, but the 20.6 percent he put up in 2015 is a career best so far. And as the league has begun to follow suit, Votto has noticed.

"To be honest with you, a lot of the league is trending in that direction. I've noticed a lot of guys that are doing a little bit more of what I've done in the previous years," Votto said. "More of a patient combination, you know. Walks, and understanding that that can be a good thing for the team."

After a recent valley of just over 14,000 league-wide walks in 2014, the number of walks taken has risen steadily each year since, reaching nearly 16,000 last season. It's more than simply taking walks, however. As Votto described it, hitters across the league are working on being more discerning, a trait that he has honed over his years in the majors.

Votto has averaged 4.09 pitches per plate appearance in his career, while the league average has been 3.83. His advanced approach has caught eyes around the league as well.

"He not only does not give an at-bat away, he never gives a pitch away. This guy's incredible," Cubs skipper Joe Maddon said.

Madden said he too has seen the influence Votto wields.

"He's prepared, he's planned, he's predetermined, he's got all this stuff going on. He uses the whole field, he has pop. He's a thinker. I've always respected his method," he said. "And I also think that guys look at Votto, and they respect that about him and want to be that way too, so actually I think he's acted as an influence, a positive influence."

But that's increasingly tough to do as the game evolves. Defensive shifts have made life tougher for many hitters. In Votto's case, teams have resorted to employing four outfielders to try to prevent the seemingly inevitable Votto double, only to watch him do it anyway. Votto said he takes all this in stride because he's been around long enough to not only fully trust his approach, but also to not be intimidated by the new threats that come on the mound. These days, teams pull their starting pitchers earlier because they tend to have a host of fireballers waiting in the bullpen.

Brandon Morrow, the new Cubs closer who has averaged 98 mph on his fastball this year, has seen the difference in facing Votto compared with most other hitters in the National League.

"He rarely swings at a ball outside of the strike zone. He's able to handle almost every pitch you throw at him. You just really have to live on the edges and make good pitches," Morrow said, adding that the cat-and-mouse game of staying ahead of hitters is especially tough against Votto. "He plays it better than anybody."

Votto said that while the past few years have presented a greater challenge, particularly thanks to bullpens that are so much deeper, his experience helps him to ultimately win out.

"The number of pitches I've seen. Some guys are just, you can't help it - they're overwhelming. But after a while it's like, it's just so many arms and so many different pitches … ," Votto said, trying to explain why he's so unlikely to feel flustered at the plate.

What's left unsaid is that he's been among the best in baseball for long enough that he's rarely caught off guard anymore, so the latest dart-throwing bullpen guy won't throw Votto off his approach.

Votto has many more years left on his contract with Cincinnati, and it seems likely that he will finish his career with the Reds. The first year that he could be a free agent doesn't come until his Age 40 season. He's made his mark on baseball already, and as the past decade has shown, Votto will probably stay ahead of the curve until the end.